


In Which Witch Sam Isn’t the Only One Who Works Magic

by cutelittlekitty



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Background Destiel, Familiar!Castiel, Familiar!Gabriel, Familiar!Loki, Hand Jobs, Innocent Sam, M/M, Mystery, Sabriel - Freeform, Virgin Sam, familiars can take human form, garden, spells, witch!Dean, witch!Kali, witch!Sam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-16 06:57:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21266930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutelittlekitty/pseuds/cutelittlekitty
Summary: As an elemental witch with an earth affinity, Sam should be great at keeping plants hale and hearty. Yet the garden that had once belonged to the mother he barely remembers begins failing. It starts as soon as his brother Dean leaves with his familiar to complete their challenge of partnership. While Dean had been the one to teach Sam to garden, just as their mother had taught Dean, Sam took over the care of it years ago and has never had a problem before. Could the rustling he sometimes catches sight of among the thicker foliage have something to do with it? The wards set around the garden should be good for months, though. How could any living creature get through them?Written for the Gabriel Monthly Challenge September prompt, Witch AU, and for the October dialogue prompt, “Okay, but seriously – what was that?”





	In Which Witch Sam Isn’t the Only One Who Works Magic

Sam stared out the window as he washed his dishes. The garden was visibly drooping, all the herbs and flowers wilting, their colors fading. In addition, the vegetable patch was filled with small, unripe veggies that had stopped growing no matter how much sunlight they absorbed. Not that they were getting much today. It was cloudy and had sprinkled off and on all morning. But they’d been due for a rain; the gentle droplets should have made the plants happy. Yet still they looked in poor health, as they had ever since Dean left.

Dean had only been gone a few days. There was no telling how long the bonding challenge would keep him away; the challenge was different for every paired witch and familiar. Dean and Castiel, a jay bird of the most beautiful cerulean hues, were perfect for each other but that didn’t mean their challenge would be easy, or quick. After all, their elements, fire and air, were unpredictable when combined and it wasn’t easy to learn to use them in tandem. It might be weeks before they made it home. By then, the whole garden could be lost. How could he fail his mother that way? He barely remembered their mom, but the garden was her legacy.

Dean had been teaching Sam how to care for their mom’s plants from the time he could walk and carry a watering can. Never had he ever had a problem like this. He’d been taking care of the garden by himself for more than ten years now. The plants had always perked up as he walked among them, as though they were happy at his presence. Which made sense; he came from a long line of elemental witches, and Sam’s element was earth.

What didn’t make sense was for the garden to be struggling just because Dean was away. His element was fire. Not one that normally got along with plants. Or earth, for that matter. But Sam had always been close with his brother. How could they not be, considering Dean had raised him from the time Sam was six, when their dad had disappeared. 

Other than him being much more firey than Dean, the two sharing the same element, Sam didn’t have many memories of their dad. Dean said that losing their mother, a doe familiar with the element of water which helped keep his fire tame, had broken him, making him much more volatile and unpredictable than he’d been when they were little. Sam and Dean hadn’t been surprised when John just left for a job one day and never returned. 

Dean was ten at the time and took over as man of the house. The rest of the small forest village they lived in had checked in on the Winchester boys and made sure they always had what they needed. However, Dean was the one who took care of Sam. In fact, this was the first time Sam had been alone in the house for more than a day or two. And look what happened.

Movement at the edge of the garden caught Sam’s eye, pulling him from his musings. The plants’ leaves were rustling as though something was running under them. That wasn’t possible, though. There was no fence around the garden, but it wasn’t needed. Spells kept all creatures out of the garden except those given specific permission—beneficial insects like bees, worms, and butterflies. Sam made sure to plant a few extras outside the garden’s wards for the forest critters to eat, but none of those animals should be able to get inside the garden proper.

Abandoning the remaining pan in the sink—it could soak for a bit anyway—Sam dashed out to check on his beloved plants. In the section where the rustling had been, the plants were even more wilted than the rest and Sam dropped to his knees, examining the basil and oregano. He didn’t see any signs of nibbling; the plants just looked ill. There were no insects around and the garden was still. Whatever had caused the rustling seemed to be long gone. Definitely a critter of some kind since there were prints in the damp earth, but Sam had no idea what kind of creature could have made them. 

The tracks looked as though something had dragged between them, but the impressions beside the wide swatch were distinct: four long, articulated digits and one shorter one, with an extra long heel. Sam knew the prints of every animal common to their forest and those didn’t match any of them. But even more worrying was how did the critter get through his wards? Because regardless of the type of creature, nothing living should be able to enter the garden. 

Several hours passed as Sam looked for any other signs of the mysterious intruder or how it had gotten in and then several more while he tried to determine how the animal had harmed the plants. He found nothing and eventually gave up, boosting the warding spells then returning to the cottage for a late dinner.

  


* * *

  


Sam noticed the same movement in the plants several times over the following week. He had yet to catch a glimpse of the mysterious creature, but the garden was continuing to slowly die, one section at a time. And always a section where he’d spotted rustling. They weren’t the only sections dying, but it was a guarantee; if he saw rustling, that section would be the next to go. 

Not that any were beyond saving. At least, not yet. And Sam had a plan. The sections that were struck ill appeared to be at random. So random that it had to be deliberate. Once Sam worked out the pattern, he knew where to hide in wait. Camouflage was an easy spell to cast, especially lying on the tramped earth path between sections. Easy for Sam, at least. Laying on the ground allowed him to see beneath the wilting thyme and lavender plants. Then all he had to do was wait.

The plants around him seemed to perk up a little at his presence and in the stillness he could hear their soft murmurs. Unfortunately, their language had no words, only emotions: fear, worry, pain, hope. They knew something was wrong in the garden. Something was hurting them and they needed Sam to put a stop to it. To save them. And he was going to try his best.

From his ground level vantage point, just as dusk was falling, Sam heard the rustling before he saw the creature. It was coming toward him swiftly and he tensed, waiting for his first view of the thing. Things! There must have been more than one, because the rustling was still coming toward him, but it was also shooting off on an angle, heading toward the center of the garden.

With only a second to decide, Sam shot off after the one that had split off. The critter was occasionally visible between rows, and Sam ran much faster than the squat thing did. But at the same time, Sam didn’t want to hurt his precious plants either. The creature was almost to the center of the garden where a river flowed through, when Sam finally caught up, diving to try and grab it. His hand had almost closed around a hind leg when the animal’s weird, flat tail whipped around, smacking Sam’s hand away, hard.

Crying out, Sam cradled his wrist to his chest, frowning at the creature, which was hunkered down near the riverbank, looking back at Sam with wide eyes. “What the hell? I wasn’t going to hurt you, I just wanted to stop you. I don’t know how you got in or why you seem to have it in for my garden, but the plants are dying. They’re important to me. Not just because I need them to make the potions I sell as my livelihood, but because this garden was started by my mother and it’s all of hers I have left.”

The creature was the oddest thing Sam had ever seen. When it moved, its squat, wide, furry body was low to the ground, flat tail dragging behind and feet stuck out to the sides. The light brown eyes gazing at Sam were set above what looked like a large, wide duck bill that seemed out of place, as though someone had glued or magicked it on, and badly at that. After a few moments of staring, the creature crept slowly toward Sam, who was too surprised to do anything. Angling up onto its back legs, it gave the briefest, softest brush of its head against Sam’s injured wrist, then backpedaled awkwardly as quickly as it could. Sam felt a pull toward the creature, there and gone in the blink of an eye. By the time he realized his wrist had stopped hurting, the animal had dived into the river and disappeared.

Shaking his head at the odd encounter, Sam watched for the animal to surface for several long minutes. When it didn’t reappear, he gave up and went back to the cottage, rubbing his wrist. Not because it was sore, but because it wasn’t and should be.

  


* * *

  


Next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Sam heard frantic scratching at his door. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he groggily got up and stumbled toward the door. His long legs always seemed to wake up slower than the rest of him, which was why he usually jogged around the property after breakfast.

The scratching seemed to grow more insistent until Sam finally managed to unlock and open the back door. There on the small, paved patio was the animal from yesterday. It gave Sam an intense look, then turn and scrambled off toward the garden. Sam stared after it in confusion and after a few feet, the creature stopped and looked back over its shoulder. It almost seemed to sigh as it turned around and scurried back. When Sam reached down to touch it—its fur looked so soft—the creature turned and ran off again. Once more, it stopped after a few feet to look back over its shoulder.

“What? Are you coming or going? It almost looks like you want me to follow you,” Sam said, wondering if he was losing his mind. Who talks to animals? Aside from familiars, of course. Dean talked to Cas all the time, and the bird seemed to understand. But a regular animal wouldn’t— Sam’s thoughts broke off as the critter nodded emphatically, then went back to scrambling as fast as it could go toward the garden. Shrugging, Sam chased after it.

Though his legs still weren’t quite awake—he hadn’t even had coffee yet, let alone breakfast—Sam managed to stumble after the creature without too much trouble. It wasn’t very fast, though it was obviously moving as quickly as it could.

“Where are we going?” Sam asked in a tone that was almost a whine. He wanted back in his nice, warm bed.

Looking back over its shoulder again, the animal hissed softly and kept moving.

“Fine, fine. I’ll shut up and follow,” Sam mumbled.

They were almost to the river when the creature stopped, head perking up and turning to its right. Sam stopped too, looking and listening. He heard rustling and spotted movement among the plants, coming toward them through the vegetable garden. The sun wasn’t above the treetops yet so whatever came toward them was hidden among the plants’ shadows. A minute later it rolled across the path in front of them with a stiff breeze behind it, then was lost among the plants on the other side of the path.

“What the hell was that?” Sam asked the air, not really expecting an answer. The creature in front of him stood on its back legs and mimed a sphere shape with its front paws. “A ball?” 

The animal nodded emphatically.

A ball. Sam could tell that already. It had definitely looked like a ball. “Okay, but seriously – what was that?”

He could almost swear the creature rolled its eyes before spreading its front paws wide in a stance that said “hell if I know.”

“Is that what’s been hurting the plants?” Sam asked. Another nod. “Okay, so where’s it coming from, why is it here, and how is it hurting them?”

Rolling its eyes again, the creature seemed to sigh, then held up its right front paw. Sam saw webbing between the digits, which retracted slowly, then the critter folded its fingers down, all except the pointer finger, which it used to make marks in the dirt.

Witch  
Wants me  
Don’t know

Sam’s eyebrows shot up as he examined the scratches in the dirt, which were clearly words. “Are you a familiar?” he asked. 

The creature nodded. 

“And a witch is rolling that ball through the garden trying to make you leave here?” 

Another nod. 

“Is that your witch and you’re running away from them?” Sam sat down on the path. His legs were tired and this could be a long game of twenty questions.

Tilting its head, the animal seemed to think for a minute, then turned around and used its flat tail to wipe the earlier words from the dirt. Once the path was smooth again, it wrote something new.

Running yes  
Not bonded

“A witch doesn’t usually try to force a familiar if they aren’t compatible.” Sam frowned, wondering why any witch would destroy his garden trying to get at a familiar that doesn’t want them. Witches and familiars found each other by their magic pulling them together, a light tug that got stronger as they got closer. A witch could work magic without a familiar, like Sam did, or work with a familiar even if they weren’t able to bond, but witches only reached their full potential with their bonded partner, and there was rarely more than one familiar that a witch could bond with.

The familiar cleared the dirt again.

Compatible  
Failed challenge

Brows furrowing, Sam tried to make sense of that. “I’ve never heard of anyone failing their challenge. I mean, you wouldn’t bother trying to take the test if you weren’t bond compatible, right?”

Clearing the dirt again, the animal started to write then stopped, thinking. It almost looked scared as it stared at Sam for a long time before finally putting its claw back to the dirt.

Compatible  
With all

Sam blinked. That wasn’t possible. He must be misunderstanding. “Are you saying that you’re compatible with all witches?”

Nodding hesitantly, the creature added to his last writing.

Compatible  
With all  
Elemental witches

“But that’s impossible. The only way to have universal compatibility would be to have a creation affinity, but Creations are even rarer...than...nulls…” Sam trailed off as the familiar nodded slowly, almost sadly. “Seriously? You’re a Creation? That explains how you got through the wards. They’d let an unbonded familiar with compatibility inside since I haven’t found my bond mate yet. Don’t worry though, I get how Creation works. It takes a different kind of bonding, right? Since, magically, you can bond with any elemental witch?”

Backing away warily, the familiar gave another slow nod.

Leaning back, Sam held his hands up, trying to reassure the creature. “Hey, I’m not gonna try to force a bond. I’m not even feeling a slight tug toward you, but even if I was, like I said, I know how your magic works. Every unbonded elemental witch would feel a tug toward you whether you were meant to be together or not. That’s why there needs to be a different connection, separate from magic.”

Relaxing, the familiar moved closer, nodding.

“I’m curious, though. Why aren’t I feeling a tug toward you?” Sam asked.

With another few swipes of its tail, the animal smoothed the dirt back out.

Turned  
Magic  
Off

“You can do that? Huh, that’s pretty amazing. Nothing I’ve read ever mentioned Creations being able to close off their magic.”

Self  
Defense

“Yeah, that makes total sense. Until you’re bonded, you’d be hounded by every Tom, Dick, and Broomhilda. Shutting your magic off would hide your nature. So, what happened with this witch that’s after you? You thought you had this mysterious second connection and tried to bond but it didn’t work?”

The creature nodded.

“And they wanted to keep you anyway, because Creation is the strongest type of elemental? I see. Well, I’m not letting them in no matter what they do, so you can stay here as long as you want...I just realized I don’t even know your name. Or what kind of animal you are—not that it matters, just curious. I’m Sam, by the way. Sam Winchester.”

Gabriel  
Platypus

“Your name is Gabriel?”

Another nod.

“And you’re a platypus. What’s a platypus.”

Rolling its eyes, the familiar waved a paw up and down its body.

Sam laughed. “Obviously. It’s just, I’ve never heard of a platypus. You’re not from around here, are you?”

Gabriel shook their head. Clearing the dirt again, they drew two shapes off to one side. Sam recognized the earth’s continents, North America and South America.

“Yeah, we’re somewhere around here right now,” Sam said, putting a dot somewhere near the middle of the lower half of North America.

Then Gabriel drew several more shapes beside the continents, one huge shape with odd spots jutting out here and there, one that looked a little bit like South America butting up to the bottom left of the big one, and a roughly oval shape below the big one. They put an X on the right side of the ovalish shape.

Sam’s brows furrowed. “You come from another world?”

That was definitely an eye roll. The platypus shook their head, then mimed a sphere like they had earlier.

“Ball?”

Nodding, Gabriel pointed to the continents, then to the outside of one rounded hand. Then he put his hand on the other side, miming the ball again, and used the other hand to point to the unfamiliar shapes, then to the outside of the hand forming the other side of the ball.

Blinking in confusion, Sam shook his head. “I don’t get what you’re trying to say.”

Sighing, Gabriel wrote above the shapes.

World  
Round

With a laugh, Sam shook his head again. “Dude, are you trying to say the world is round? That’s just ridiculous. Everyone knows it’s flat. You can see the sun dropping below the disc every night and rising up from it every morning.”

Gabriel rolled their eyes.

Sun is still  
Round world spins

“Don’t be sil—” Sam broke off, wondering. Could Gabriel be right? Thinking about it, Sam realized it was possible. Not likely, but logistically possible. Giving up worrying about it on an empty stomach barely after dawn, Sam got back to the original topic. “So you’re from here,” he said, pointing to the X, “and it’s a huge island on the other side of the world?”

Gabriel nodded. 

“Wow. I wish you could tell me about it. It must be a lot different than here. Are there lots of other weird animals there?”

Huffing through two holes on their bill, Gabriel crossed their paws over their chest and gave Sam a glare.

Unable to help a snort of laughter at the pose, Sam tried to disguise it as a cough and shook his head. “Sorry, I didn’t mean weird-weird. I meant different from the animals common around here.

Though still trying to look angry, Gabriel nodded. Even half covered by a stiff bill, Gabriel’s face managed to be very expressive, especially the eyes. 

The platypus was so adorable, Sam was hard pressed to keep a straight face. But he didn’t want to offend Gabriel, so he tried. “Anyway, I’d really love to hear about where you come from, but scratching out a novel in the dirt doesn’t seem like the best way to communicate. Maybe I can find a spell that will enable you to talk. But that should wait until after I stop your witch—sorry, your ex-witch—from killing my garden. And before anything, I need breakfast. Are you hungry? I was going to fry up some bacon and eggs.”

Gabriel opened their bill and pointed at the distinct lack of teeth inside.

“Oh, yeah, probably not great at chewing. I could make you scrambled eggs, runny?” Sam offered and Gabriel’s angry stiffness melted away as their eyes widened. “Or some creamed wheat with brown suga—” Sam hadn’t even finished before Gabriel was nodding emphatically then scrambling off toward the cottage.

Sam pushed himself up off the ground and followed.

  


* * *

  


Bringing two bowls of creamed wheat to the table, Sam set his at his place, then looked down at Gabriel. “I’d feel weird giving this to you down there on the floor. And it’s been over a week since I’ve had anyone to share a meal with. Do you want to eat on the table? I can lift you up there if you don’t mind,” he offered.

Raising his front paws, Gabriel looked pointedly at the soil covering them after having been drawing in the dirt, then back at Sam.

“Oh, I can take care of that in a second, if you don’t mind me using a bit of magic. It’s nothing bad and won’t hurt you in any way,” Sam said, setting Gabriel’s bowl on the table at his brother’s usual place. 

Gabriel’s eyebrow quirked—quite adorably—then they gave a shrug of their tiny platypus shoulders and nodded.

Permission granted, Sam leaned over and waved his hand slowly, about a foot away from the animal. Dirt was instantly pulled from Gabriel’s paws, tail, fur, everywhere. It collected on Sam’s hands, like iron filings drawn to a magnet. When the last few bits of dust had been removed, Sam went to the back door, stepped out to the edge of the paito, then released his hold. The dirt and dust dropped into the grass and Sam went back inside.

“My affinity is earth,” Sam commented at Gabriel’s questioning look. “So, onto the table now?” He asked, reaching down toward the cute critter.

The platypus stepped backward, out of reach.

“What’s wrong? Would you rather climb up yourself? I think I have a step stool that would get you up to the chair, then—” Sam stopped when Gabriel shook their head.

Gabriel stretched a back leg out so Sam could see clearly, pointed to a sharp protrusion, then made an X with their arms. Sam’s brows furrowed, and the platypus repeated the motions, this time showing the other back leg which had the same protrusion.

“You don’t want me to touch your back legs?” Sam guessed.

Nodding, Gabriel stepped closer and reached their front arms up.

Bending down, Sam lifted the platypus from under their shoulders, careful not to let the spurs on their back legs touch any part of his body. That seemed to be the part Gabriel was warning him away from. He set the familiar on the table beside their bowl, then brought over spoons and the jar of brown sugar. After adding a scoop to each bowl, he sat down and handed Gabriel their spoon, then used the other to stir the sweet sugar into his own thick, hot cereal.

With an eye roll that was fast becoming familiar, Gabriel opened the jar and added scoop after scoop of brown sugar until Sam wondered if the platypus was trying to see how much it would take to make the large bowl overflow. Once half the jar was emptied onto their breakfast, Gabriel stirred, then looked up at Sam, who still hadn’t started on his own meal. Miming a pouring motion and pointing to their bowl, Gabriel raised an eyebrow.

“Want some cream with your sugar?” Sam teased.

Eyes twinkling, Gabriel nodded.

Sam grabbed the pitcher off the counter, still half-full of the thick milk he’d gotten from their cow before he’d started cooking. Since the jug was a bit heavy, he poured for Gabriel, then shrugged and added a splash to his own.

“I don’t know what your homeland is like, but I’m fairly sure sugar isn’t something platypuses—platypi?—eat in the wild. Are you going to be okay eating that much? I don’t want you to get sick.”

Brows scrunching together, Gabriel ran a claw over the table as though making letters.

“I can’t tell what you’re trying to write.”

Shoulders slumping, Gabriel huffed through the holes on their bill. They licked their spoon clean, used it as though they were writing on the table, then set it back in their bowl and mimed a rectangle.

“Oh, you want something to write with?” Sam felt like he was pretty good at guessing what the platypus wanted, but sometimes he just wasn’t sure.

Gabriel nodded, then went back to eating.

“Alright, I’ll be right back.” Wondering how this strange creature managed to get him wrapped around their tiny paw so quickly, Sam headed to his workroom. Parchment was easy; he had stacks of it in his desk, both for taking notes and for making scrolls. Grabbing a piece from the notes pile—any piece not made perfectly was no good for a spell scroll—he looked at his quill standing in its inkwell. Personally, Sam preferred using the quill for all writing, and when it came to spellwork, there was no other option. Spell scrolls always performed best when written with a natural implement onto a natural surface using natural ink. Sam made his own ink from blueberries grown in the garden. The parchment was handmade in the city a day’s ride away using local sheep or goat skins. The quills he collected himself in the forest.

But the quill was too delicate for the platypus to use. Not to mention it had to be held at just the right angle. Fortunately, Dean had given him a fountain pen and bottle of india ink for his sixteenth birthday. Sam didn’t use either often, but the stub nibbed pen would write whether vertical or angled, plus the metal pen was sturdy and had a good diameter. Filling the pen’s well, he took it and the parchment back to the kitchen, setting them beside his guest as he finally started in on his own food.

Continuing to lift spoonfuls of creamed sugar (and wheat) to their bill with their left paw while fisting the pen in their right, Gabriel held the parchment still with a back paw and began writing. They were still writing when Sam finished his cereal and stood to wash his bowl. 

“You going to be writing much longer?” Sam asked as he set his bowl on the towel to dry.

With a pondering look over what they’d already written, Gabriel shrugged and nodded.

“Hey, that’s fine. Write as long as you need to. I was just going to take my morning jog. It doesn’t take too long. Do you want anything before I go? Water? Coffee? I think we have some apple cider in the cellar.” At the mention of cider Gabriel nodded emphatically, so Sam went out and down to the cellar, taking the milk down and bringing a jug of cider up. “Warmed? With cinnamon?” Two nods. Sam put some in a pan to heat, stirred it with a cinnamon stick until steam had been rising for a few minutes, then poured it into a mug, setting it within Gabriel’s reach.

Rolling their eyes, Gabriel pointed to their flat bill and gave Sam a look that said “what the hell do you want me to do with that mug?”

“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.” He found a pie pan and held it up for approval from the platypus before pouring the cider into it. “Okay, here you go. I shouldn’t be gone long.”

Sam jogged his usual route; out to the edge of the wards, then around the garden, keeping just inside. As he jogged, he checked the warding for weak spots but didn’t find any. Glancing over the garden, he wondered if it might be too late to save the plants, some of which were the ones his mother had planted more than twenty years ago. He needed to at least stop any further damage from happening. Today. Maybe if they could catch that ball, Sam could figure out what it was doing to the plants and find a way to counteract it.

They’d have to find it first though. The wards didn’t only prevent living things from entering. They stopped magic from entering too. It wouldn’t do to have a golem come waltzing through just because it wasn’t technically alive. So the ball couldn’t be magical. But Sam was sure he’d felt a wind coming behind it. Was Gabriel’s ex-witch a wind affinity? Blowing a non magical ball through the garden? If they conjured the wind outside the wards, it would be possible. Once it was conjured, the wind would be as normal as any other breeze. But even if the ball itself wasn’t magical, whatever it was doing to the garden was, and it shouldn’t be able to carry any type of magic through the wards.

By the time he made it back to the cottage, Sam was no closer to a solution to the garden’s plight than before. The wards had all been strong and thorough, so the witch wasn’t going to get through anytime soon. Maybe he could give Gabriel something to help catch the ball, then look through his books for a language spell while the platypus kept watch on the garden. Or vice versa. The little critter couldn’t move very fast, but couldn’t reach Sam’s books either. 

“I’m back,” Sam said as he came through the back door. 

Gabriel waved from his position on the table, pointing to the parchment he’d been writing on.

“You’re done?” Sam asked. 

Nodding, the platypus slid the paper toward Sam.

“This...This looks like ingredients.” Sam said as he read what Gabriel had written. “And an incantation. This is a spell?”

The platypus nodded again.

Sam examined the words, one phrase standing out. “Donum linguarum? Gift of language? Is this a spell to let you speak English?” When Gabriel nodded again, Sam reread the ingredients. 

“Huh. These are all pretty common components. I’m pretty sure I have everything. Are you sure about this though? You’re not a witch, right? Familiars can’t cast spells on their own, so how did you know this one?”

Gabriel rolled their eyes.

“Right. Too many questions. Just answer the first one. Are you sure this spell is legit?”

Another confident nod had Sam heading for his work room. Gathering the various ingredients, he read the instructions below the incantation, then measured each component out exactly. Sam had just finished grinding and measuring the dried rosemary when he felt a nudge against his leg. Looking down, he saw the platypus on their hind legs, reaching their arms up.

“Okay, but you have to be careful not to knock anything over, and no distracting me.” Gabriel rolled their eyes again as Sam lifted them to the table. “Keep that up and one of these days, your eyes are going to roll right out of your head,” Sam warned with a chuckle.

Standing on their back legs, arms crossed over their chest, Gabriel gave Sam a pointed look, then pointed back to the parchment.

“And who’s the one who interrupted me, hmm?” Sam asked as he picked up a sprig of lavender. The spell called for fresh, but all he had was magically preserved. It would have to do, because the lavender in the garden was in no condition to be used. Taking a tray from his balance scale, he began pulling petals from each tiny flower, piling them on the tray. The spell specifically called for only the petals, which was unusual, but Sam followed the directions exactly. Once he estimated he had nearly enough, he placed the tray back on the scale, adding his two gram weight to the other side. After a bit of adding petals a few at a time, the scales came to a perfect balance and he set the lavender petals with the other measured ingredients. Then he just needed three leaves of sage (dried), a pinch of finely ground catnip, and his purified amethyst to activate the spell and he was ready.

With a nod from Gabriel, who looked nervous, Sam performed the spell, sparks flying up from the wooden bowl when he touched the amethyst crystal to the combined ingredients after finishing the incantation. Looking at the platypus standing on his work table, Sam raised an eyebrow.

“Did it work?” Sam asked.

“Please tell me it worked. Oh! It did! Damn, that’s so much better,” Gabriel said, relief evident in the soothing, mellow tone of his voice. “Thanks, kiddo.”

Sam stared.

“Helooooo, Earth to Sam,” Gabriel said, waving a paw in front of Sam’s face.

Blinking, Sam shook himself out of his surprised stupor. “Oh, sorry. I just didn’t expect you to sound so—”

“Human? What, you were expecting broken, one or two word sentences? Like I’m not capable of stringing a coherent thought together?”

“What? No! That’s not—”

“Typical witch,” Gabriel huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Always thinking familiars are stupid, uneducated, second-class—”

“If you’d let me get a word in, I was going to say I hadn’t expected you to sound so nice.”

Gabriel laughed. “Nice? Me?”

Taking a leaf out of Gabriel’s book, Sam rolled his eyes. “I meant your voice. You have a very nice voice—kind of mellow and soothing. The kind you could listen to for hours and not get tired of hearing. Though, considering the words your voice is forming, I might be changing that opinion.” Getting up from the tall stool he’d sat on after casting the spell, Sam gave the platypus a pointed look. “You are, though, whether you want to admit it or not.”

“I am what?”

“Nice,” Sam said as he began clearing up his work table, putting away ingredients, cleansing his amethyst.

“You don’t even know me,” Gabriel protested.

“I know enough. You’ve been trying to stop whatever’s hurting my garden, and you healed my wrist yesterday, even at the risk of me catching you or figuring out that you’re a familiar.”

“I’m the reason you were hurt in the first place.”

Sam raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, because you slapped my hand away when I was about to grab your leg, which you told me earlier, pretty insistently, that you don’t like. Besides, even if you caused it, that didn’t mean you had to heal it. You could have left me to heal it on my own, or just wait for it to get better. After all, it was only a sprain.”

“It’s not that I don’t like my back legs being touched,” Gabriel grumbled, tail sliding back and keeping him steady as he settled onto his butt, back legs jutting out in front of him. “See these spurs?” he asked, pointing to the protrusions he’d shown Sam before.

“Yeah. Are they sensitive?”

“Nope. Poisonous.”

“What?” Sam’s eyes went wide.

“Girls don’t get them, but male platypuses have these venom-filled spurs. The venom’s strong enough to kill small animals. Won’t take out a human, but it would put you in excruciating pain for weeks, possibly months. In Australia, where I come from, most of the native animals are dangerous.”

“Really? Looking at you, I never would have guessed that. You’re so cute,” Sam commented.

“Yeah, well, the cute ones are usually the most lethal. Though I’ve never considered myself part of that category. Cute.”

“But you are. A bit odd, but definitely cute,” Sam insisted as he put away his cleansed amethyst in its cabinet. He wet a cloth in the sink beside his work bench and began scrubbing the rough wooden top clean.

“Huh. Kali always said I was ugly. Like she was doing me a favor by being my witch, because no other witch would have me.”

“Sounds like this Kali was just manipulating you so you’d stay with her. Is that the witch who’s after you? The one killing my plants?”

Gabriel nodded. “Yeah. Kali’s a storm witch—very powerful. She could have leveled the whole garden with a single storm, but the warding would still be there. Instead, she’s trying to make me come out on my own, using the threat of destroying this place completely to make me go back to her. But, once she does wreck the garden, Kali won’t have any more leverage. So she’s poisoning it a little at a time.”

“Do you know how she’s doing it?” Sam asked. “I was thinking about it while I was jogging. That ball has to be non-magical to get through the wards, but it wouldn’t be able to carry a potion or poison into the garden—the wards would keep either of those out. So I don’t know how it’s harming the plants.”

“Dunno, kiddo. Sorry. It’s definitely spraying something onto the plants while it rolls, but I don’t know what. It’s not magical, though. You’re right about that. I think we gotta catch the ball and take a closer look at the stuff it’s spraying.” Gabriel shrugged, then rolled onto his side, pushing up onto all four legs and moving to the side so Sam could clean where he’d been sitting..

“I can predict which section it will roll through next, but not which rows. Setting up some way to catch it will be hard and take forever if I have to put traps all over the garden. There has to be a way to just make one trap that her ball is guaranteed to roll into,” Sam said as he finished wiping his work bench clean. He laid his cloth over the sink’s basin to his right, then sat on his stool, resting an elbow on the bench and his chin on his hand.

They thought for a few minutes in silence, then Gabriel let out a chuckle.

“What’s funny?” Sam asked

“I always said Kali had balls, but I didn’t mean the kind we’re trying to take from her. Even so, maybe without her balls she’d stop chasing me.”

Sam chuckled. “Maybe. Or you could bond with another witch. That would stop her, right?”

With a wry huff, Gabriel shook his head. “I doubt that. Kali thinks Creations don’t follow the same bonding rules as other elemental affinities, so she’d probably think killing my witch would mean I could go back to her. But the only difference in bonding is the second bond. Once I find my dual-bonded witch, I’ll never be fully compatible with anyone else, even if they die.”

“So, here’s a thought. What if Kali found _her_ familiar?”

Gabriel blinked his caramel eyes slowly. “Huh. Now _that_ just might work. Think there’s a spell for that?”

“I’m sure there must be. I think that’s how Dad found Mom, so it’s probably in one of his journals.” 

“You think the spell will work for witch-familiar, not just witch-witch?” 

“Oh, Mom was Dad’s familiar. So the spell would already be witch-familiar.”

Eyes going wide, Gabriel stared at Sam. “Really?”

“Yeah. It’s not that uncommon, right?”

“Actually, it is. Very uncommon. I mean, any familiar can take on human form once they’re bonded, and sure, they might sex it up with their witch from time to time, but for a familiar and witch to have a child together, they have to be true soulmates. And those are super rare.”

“Really? But I’m pretty sure Dad said his parents were a bonded pair too. And he always talked like Dean and I would marry our familiars when we found them too. Weird. Anyway, let’s go check out those journals.” Sam rose and reached for Gabriel.

“Hey, hold up for just a minute.”

“Sorry, I should have asked if it was okay to pick you up first.”

“Nah, it’s fine, just, I was wondering if you had something we could cover my spurs with so I wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally poisoning you.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s a good idea. I think there are some thimbles in Mom’s old sewing box. Would those work? They’re metal; should be strong enough to not be poked through, and we can wrap them on with bandages.”

“Yeah, that sounds perfect.”

Sam got the supplies and wrapped Gabriel’s spurs, then carried the platypus into the library off the master bedroom. Their dad had always taken the precaution of not keeping his precious books near the kitchen or lab since fires could happen in either place. 

Locating his dad’s earliest journal, Sam pulled it out, then glanced at Gabriel. He liked the little guy but it was weird how quickly he’d come to trust him in the few hours since Gabriel had woken him up to show him what was hurting his garden. When he picked up the journal, his first instinct had been to hand it over and grab the next one to look through himself, but that was ridiculous. Gabriel was practically a stranger, and his dad’s journals were full of family secrets and powerful magic. Even so, he didn’t want to hurt Gabriel’s feelings.

“You’re welcome to look through any of the books on the lower shelves while I check Dad’s journals, if you want,” Sam offered as he opened the journal to the last page and looked for a date. It ended before John had met Mary, so he put it back and picked up the next one. Finding that it covered the right years, Sam sat in one of the library’s large armchairs and began skimming, glancing at gabriel from the corner of his eyes every now and then. 

Gabriel looked over the spell books, picture books, and young adult novels that lined the lower shelves. Eyes twinkling, he picked out a young adult romance novel, took it over to the armchair next to Sam’s, tossed it up on the seat, then scrambled and pulled himself up into the chair. He lay on his belly, opening the book in front of him to read.

Smiling, Sam focused on his own reading, skimming through until he got close to the right date, then reading more thoroughly. “Found it!” he exclaimed, finger tracing over the list of ingredients for the spell. There were surprisingly few: a stone bowl coated in wormwood oil, add some mugwort, a pinch of lavender and the hair of a witch, burn it all, then place a pink rosebud in the ashes and recite the incantation. That sounded almost too easy. “This should be a snap to do. It won’t take more than half an hour to get it prepared and cast it.”

“Really? Sweet! Let’s get casting then. Once Kali has her true familiar, she’ll stop coming after me and we can get her to undo whatever she’s done to the garden.” Gabriel closed his book and stood on his back legs, reaching his small arms up to Sam.

With a laugh, Sam swooped him up and set Gabriel on his shoulder. The platypus leaned an elbow on top of Sam’s head, using his tail on the witch’s back and legs hanging over his shoulder to keep himself balanced. 

Grabbing the journal, Sam headed back to the workroom and quickly assembled the ingredients. After that, it only took a few minutes to perform the spell. As the last words of the incantation fell from Sam’s lips, the bowl glowed brightly with a blue-white light which pulsed one, two, three times, then disappeared in a blinding flash.

When his vision finally cleared, Sam blinked around the work room. The spell should have summoned the bondmate, but no one else was there, just Sam, and Gabriel, still sitting on his shoulder. “Well that was a dud.”

“But it felt like the magic worked. Are you sure you cast it right?” Gabriel asked, scrambling awkwardly down from Sam and onto the workbench. He went to the opened journal and looked at the spell.

“I’m pretty sure I did. The ingredients are simple and the directions are clear. And I’ve been speaking latin forever so I’m sure I pronounced everything right.”

“Where did you get one of Kali’s hairs?” Gabriel asked.

Sam’s brows furrowed. “Kali’s? It just says ‘the hair of a witch’. I used one of my own hairs.”

Rolling his eyes, Gabriel shook his head. “It doesn’t specify, but that’s because it assumes the caster is summoning their own familiar. To summon Kali’s, you need to use one of her hairs.”

Collapsing onto his stool, Sam groaned. “Great. Just great. How are we supposed to get one of her hairs?”

“Maybe you can trick her into casting the spell herself?”

“How would I do that? Why would she even listen to me?” Sam asked.

“Don’t worry, kiddo. I’ve got a plan.” Gabriel’s eyes twinkled with mischief as he sat down and told Sam his plan.

  


* * *

  


That evening, Sam did an extra jog around the perimeter of the garden, this time outside the warding. Once he felt like he was being watched, he made his way to a tree and used his magic to coax the tree into forming a knot. He put a spellbook inside, along with a standard spell kit, but with a stone bowl instead of wood, then covered the opening with an illusion of bark. That done, he glanced around to make sure he hadn’t been seen, then continued on his jog.

Once back at the cottage, Sam cast a chameleon spell and went to the end of the path closest to the trees, where the platypus was waiting for him, hidden amongst the leaves. He gave Gabriel a skeptical look. “I’m pretty sure she saw me hide it, but do you really think she’ll take the bait?” he asked quietly.

Gabriel nodded. “She was cloaked, but yeah, she saw you. And If she doesn’t do it, we’ll just have to try something else. But I think she will. You labeled the spell ‘To Summon a Familiar’ right?”

“Yeah, and included the part about focusing on the familiar you want to summon. Intent doesn’t matter for the spell though, it’ll summon the familiar meant to bond with the witch whose hair is in the spell. So, if she does the spell, thinking it’ll summon you, it should summon her intended familiar. I wonder why—”

“Shh, look. She’s going to the tree,” Gabriel interrupted.

Sam fell silent and stilled, hidden from sight by his spell. He and Gabriel watched as a beautiful woman with wavy black hair, bedroom eyes, and pouting lips went to the concealed hole and withdrew its contents. Kali cast a verbal spell to detect if there was magic protecting book. There wasn’t. Hesitantly, she opened it and browsed through the pages of spells, lips pursed as her brain worked, thinking.

The moment she got to the familiar summoning spell was obvious. Kali perked up, eyes alight as her lips spread into a wide, predatory grin. When she quickly set about preparing the spell, Sam and Gabriel exchanged a hopeful glance.

Gabriel and Sam closed their eyes when Kali finished the incantation to avoid the blinding light. A few seconds later they opened them again and saw a large black serpent tilting its head at Kali curiously. They waited until Kali’s vision returned and she saw the snake she had summoned, then came out of hiding.

“Who are you? Where is Gabriel?” Kali demanded of the snake as Sam and Gabriel stopped just inside the perimeter of the warding.

The snake made a series of hisses. Gabriel translated. 

“He says, ‘Look lady, I don’t know who you think you are demanding answers from me when you’re the one who summoned me. I was just minding my own business, scaring a bratty kid who tried to use me to tease someone, and poof, all of a sudden I’m here.’”

“I know that, I have ears,” Kali retorted.

“You sure do, but I was translating for Sam.”

“Wait, you can understand him?” Sam asked Kali.

“Yeah, Sam. Witches can understand familiars they’re compatible with,” Gabriel replied, knowing Kali wouldn’t answer. At least, not politely.

“I was _trying_ to summon you,” Kali said, glaring pointedly at Gabriel.

“Yeah, I know you were. But snakey over there’s the familiar you’re supposed to bond with.”

“But I _want_ to bond with you. Why would I—” Kali broke off as the snake came toward her, tongue tasting the air. It slithered its way up her body and coiled itself around her torso, most of its weight resting on her shoulders as its tail wound its way over her chest, between her breasts. “Oh,” Kali breathed softly as the serpent hissed softly in her ear.

“Name’s Loki. Ditch the dud and bond with me. I have a feeling you and I could get up to all kinds of mischief together.” Gabriel translated again.

“Well, that does sound promising. And you’ve got my magic all tingly. Among other things,” Kali replied with a smirk.

“Awesome!” Gabriel exclaimed, clapping his front paws together. “Looks like you two are hitting it off. Say, Kali...before you go, care to fix whatever you’ve been doing to Sam’s garden?”

With a cold laugh, Kali clucked her tongue at him. “I can’t believe you haven’t figured it out on your own already. It’s easy enough to fix.” She waved her hand toward the sky and clouds began gathering. Loki’s coils squeezed gently, powering her magic so well that she didn’t even break a sweat, though making a controlled weather alteration was one of the most difficult uses of her powers. Much harder than simply setting a storm to rage uncontrollably. Once the dark clouds had gathered, they drifted over the garden before letting loose a torrent of rain. 

Sam and Gabriel dashed out from under the clouds even though they had to leave the warding to do it. 

“Why are you flooding my garden?” Sam asked, wide eyes watching the rain pelt his precious, withering plants.

Kali rolled her eyes. “I’m not flooding it, just washing off the saltwater that’s harming the plants. The rain will last long enough to get all the salt off the plants and most of it out of the soil. Your garden should be fine after that.”

Blinking, Sam stared at the garden, dumbfounded. “Huh. No wonder the warding didn’t keep it out. You were just spraying the plants with saltwater.”

“Got yourself a smartie there, Gabriel. You should keep him,” Kali teased.

“Well, that was a quick bonding challenge,” said a voice that sounded very similar to Gabriel’s. The snake was gone and instead, a man was standing behind Kali, leaning on her shoulders. His blond hair curled at the ends under his fedora. Light-brown eyes with hints of green sparkled above a sharp nose, smirking mouth, and angular chin.

“It was. I guess we really are compatible. Now, what were you saying about mischief we could get up to?” Kali asked with a smirk, taking the hands from off her shoulders and leading the man away, into the woods.

“Uh, what just happened?” Sam asked, staring at the trees where Kali and the man had disappeared.

“They passed their bonding challenge. Guess that spell of your dad’s really works.” Gabriel replied. “Y’know, I wouldn’t mind trying if you wanted to see if we could bond.”

“But who was the guy?”

“That was Loki. Didn’t you know? That’s how you know if the bonding worked. The familiar gains the ability to use their human form. But you didn’t answer my question.”

“Technically, you didn’t ask a question, just said you wouldn’t mind. Are you saying you _want_ to bond with me?” Sam asked.

Gabriel sighed. “Yeah, okay? I think we’d be great together and I’d like to try bonding with you. Will you take the bonding challenge with me?”

Grinning, Sam nodded. “Yeah, I think I’d like that. I mean, we haven’t even tried working magic together yet, but you’re smart and easy to get along with, and I bet creation and earth magics would go together pretty well, especially with gardening and making healing potions and ointments, which are my main uses for magic.”

“You bet your ass they do. Hey, I’ve got an idea. Let’s try combining our magic to make a congratulations gift for Kali and Loki.”

“A gift? Like what?” Sam asked.

“I’m sure they’ll be travelling a lot. Kali never liked to stay in one place for long. How about some seeds that each grow into a housetree with a nice, soft, mossy bed?” Gabriel suggested.

“And a table and chairs for eating. I bet I could manage a working sink too. I wonder if I could get the plant to gather iron from the soil to make a functioning stove?” Sam added.

“Yeah, sure kiddo. Maybe it can have quick-growing fruits, veggies, nuts and herbs too, so they’ll never be hungry,” Gabriel said, tone starting out sarcastic but turning thoughtful. “That might actually be possible. Oh, do you think we could make it grow a new housetree seed too? Then we don’t have to give them a limited number of seeds, just one that reproduces itself so they’ll always have a home.” Gabriel said, really getting into the planning.

They set about working on it and Sam was surprised at how much power Gabriel’s magic added to his, especially when it came to shaping their creation. Sam’s magic manipulated the components of the seed, which wound up being the size of a walnut. The work was intricate and took several days, during which Sam worried that Kali would have already moved on. Gabriel assured him she was too busy to be going anywhere, and they left meals at the edge of the forest twice a day, which were always eaten.

Of course, Sam and Gabriel had to eat too. And sleep. They would pause their magic-working to have a meal together and take food out for Kali and Loki, bringing back the empty tray from the last meal, then go back to their work. Each night when Sam crawled into bed, Gabriel followed him, making sure his spurs were wrapped securely before snuggling up against the witch. Sam found he rather liked the feeling of having the warm, soft, furry body cradled in his arms. 

Nearly a week later, the seed was ready. Gabriel prepared a note explaining what it was and how to use it, then they took the seed out to the small clearing between the forest and the garden and tested it. The housetree took only ten minutes to fully form, which was very impressive. Inside was just as they’d planned it, save for the stove being on the small side and the sink not working well. The magic could only use the iron it was able to pull from the ground. Same with the water. 

“There’s nothing we can do about the small stove. It should still be enough to cook food and keep the home warm. The sink though…They should probably set up near a stream or lake—some source of freshwater,” Sam said.

Gabriel nodded. “Yeah, I’ll add that to the note. How’s the food?” he asked. 

Sam plucked a carrot that hung, fully formed, from the ceiling and took a bite. “Delicious!” he proclaimed.

“Now for the biggest test. Will the new seed work the same as the old?” 

Sam harvested the new, walnut-sized seed and they both stepped outside as the housetree began to un-grow, shrinking slowly and absorbing back into the ground. Once it was completely gone, Sam checked the earth where they had buried the seed. It was gone.

Moving over to another section of the clearing, they planted the new seed. It grew the same as the other—soft bed, delicious food, same bells and whistles. Smiling, Sam bent down to give Gabriel a high-five, then plucked the new seed and followed the platypus back outside. He stopped a few feet from the door to watch the large tree slowly un-grow. Once it was gone, Sam turned back to Gabriel with a smile, only to find the platypus gone.

“Loki? Where did Gabriel go?” Sam asked.

The man before him laughed. He was dressed differently than when Sam had first seen him, and his smile seemed warmer, friendlier. “I’m right here, kiddo. Looks like we passed our challenge.”

“Gabriel?” Sam’s eyes were wide, eyebrows reaching for his hairline.

“The one and only. Though I suppose I must look quite a bit like Loki?” Gabriel asked, and Sam nodded. “That could explain why Kali was so fixated on me. Her magic must have felt some similarity between me and her intended familiar. It’s strange though, Loki’s magic felt like Null to me. But Nulls aren’t supposed to be able to bond at all. It’s definitely something worth studying. Creationss and Nulls are equally rare. I wonder if we all have an opposite twin.”

“So, you’re human now? Wait, when did we take our challenge?” Sam asked, reeling.

“I’ve gained access to my human form, yeah. I can still switch back to platypus, though. And making that seed was our test. Since we both agreed to do the challenge before we started working together, and the magic was being used to help someone else, we satisfied both requirements for bonding. And the seed working as intended marked successful completion. Sorry, kiddo. You’re stuck with me now.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “I’m not ‘stuck with you’, I get to stay with you. Didn’t you hear me earlier when I said I enjoy your company?”

“Really? I thought you were just saying that to be nice because you didn’t think we’d be able to bond even though it was obvious.”

“Obvious?”

“Yeah, Sam, why do you think no one appeared when you did the familiar spell with your own hair?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t really think about it much. I just assumed it didn’t work because I hadn’t used Kali’s hair.”

“Wrong, kiddo. You didn’t use Kali’s hair, but you did use a witch’s hair. Yours. And the spell worked; we both saw the energy pulse, right?” Gabriel pointed out.

“What does that mean, then? That I don’t have a true familiar?”

Gabriel’s eyes rolled again, his whole human face getting into the movement. Not having a stiff bill for a mouth gave him a much greater range of expression, though his eyes were still the most expressive part. “Sam, it didn’t summon your familiar because I was already there, goofball. C’mon, let’s leave Kali and Loki their food and present, then head home.”

“Of course! I should have thought of that,” Sam said, blushing. He grabbed the tray of food they’d left inside the garden and took it to the stump he’d grown to leave the meals on. 

Gabriel finished his note then folded it, sliding the large seed inside the fold. Taking Sam’s head, he led them back into the garden.

“You know, I hadn’t thought about what would happen after bonding. I guess home really is home now, for the both of us. Dean and Cas have Dad’s old room, and I’m in what used to be Dean and I’s room. Now that you’re moving in too, maybe I should add a new room. Or, Dean had said something about building a separate house for him and Cas across the road. If he does, then you can have—”

“Do I snore?” Gabriel asked, cutting Sam off.

“What? No, why?”

“I was just wondering why you were kicking me out of your room. If it was snoring, you could make a potion to cure it, but if it’s something else…”

“Dude, it’s not that. I just figured you’d want your own room. I mean, you’re human now. Don’t you want some privacy?”

“Gotta say, I much prefer sharing your bed to sleeping alone. And I think I’ll like it even more in human form,” Gabriel said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Wouldn’t that be a bit crowded?”

“Yeppers, that’s kinda the point.”

“You like being uncomfortable?” Sam asked

“Really, Sam? I’m not tryin’a be subtle here.” Gabriel said, rolling his eyes again.

“Subtle about what?”

“You can’t be that clueless. Sex. You an’ me, doin’ the horizontal mamba. Unless you’re not interested. ‘Cause that’s totally fine, I just...I gotta say, you’re pretty damn hot. Not to mention smart and sweet and a hell of a cuddler. But no pressure.”

“Oh. Uh...Actually, I kinda am that clueless. Dean raised me from the time I was six. He was ten. I know sex is how humans reproduce and some of my customers have said they were flirting with me, but got too embarrassed to explain when I asked what flirting was.” Sam said, blushing.

“Whoo, boy. I think I hit the jackpot. Assuming you’re up to learning. Whaddya say, Sam? Interested in some lessons?” Gabriel asked, brushing his fingers lightly down Sam’s arm before clasping his hand.

Sam shivered at the touch, feeling a fluttering in his chest. “Males can’t reproduce with each other,” Sam replied hesitantly. If sex was for reproduction, there wouldn’t be much point to doing it with Gabriel.

“You’ve got so much to learn, kiddo. It’s not only for having rugrats. For one, it feels amazing. Secondly, it can be a way of expressing affection to a friend or lover. Three, it feels amazing.”

“You already said that.”

“It’s bears repeating. Aaaanywho, wanna give it a try? We can start slow if you want.” 

“Is it something _you_ want?” Sam asked, shivering again as Gabriel’s thumb brushed over his hand.

“Sam, I’ve wanted you from the first moment I saw you. But that’s not important here. Well, only in how it relates to me enthusiastically consenting of my own will. Anyhow, what’s more important is how _you_ feel. You can’t agree just because I want to. That wouldn’t make me happy at all. It has to be something you want for yourself, otherwise it wouldn’t be right. And if it’s not something you want to try, like I said, I’m fine with that. Though I do hope you’ll still let me share your bed, because sleeping in your arms feels perfect to me.”

“Mind if I think about it for a bit?” Sam asked.

“Yep, that’s fine, kiddo. And you know, I can just tell you about sex and other things you might’ve missed in your upbringing. Your tutelage doesn’t have to be ‘hands on’.”

“Yeah, verbal instruction to start sounds like a good idea. Let’s sleep on it and we can talk about it in the morning.”

“In the same bed?” Gabriel prompted.

“If you switch back to platypus, sure,” replied Sam, opening the back door for Gabriel and following him in.

“Spoilsport. You act like you don’t trust me.”

“Maybe I don’t. Or maybe the bed’s not really made for two full-grown men.”

“Hey, I’m smaller than average to make up for your big-ass body. It’d be cozy, but we could make it work.” Gabriel said as they began getting ready for bed.

“Probably. But you’re still switching forms or you can sleep on Dean’s bed.”

“Platypus it is. Hope my thimbles are still there.”

  


* * *

  


Over the next few days, Gabriel gave Sam a thorough, verbal course in sex education. Sam didn’t ask where Gabriel had learned so much about human sex, and Gabriel didn’t elaborate.

“So, Gabriel, you said sex could be between strangers, friends, or lovers. Strangers I get, but what’s the difference between friends and lovers. I mean, how do you know if you love someone?”

Gabriel rubbed his chin. He’d been staying in human form most of the time during the days, only reverting to animal form at night. “Well, kiddo, that’s a hard one to answer, ‘cause it’s different for everyone, and there are different types of love. For romantic love, It’s kind of a full feeling in your chest, almost like there isn’t enough room to breathe. And you think about that person all the time, and ache when they’re away. Someone you enjoy being around no matter what you’re doing, even when it’s not really doing anything at all. For me, it’s also a desire to touch and be touched by that person, even if it’s not sexually. Just a touch sends a thrill through me and gives me this warm, fuzzy feeling inside. It’s someone you care for, more than even your own life, and want to be happy.”

“That sounds like you’ve already experienced it? Did you love Kali?” Sam asked hesitantly.

“Hmm... good question. I thought I did, at first. But eventually I realized that I cared for her, but wasn’t in love with her. Honestly, it’s not always easy to tell the difference, and in the end, only you can define your feelings. But you don’t have to figure them out all at once. It can take a while for feelings to become clear, and they can change over time. Friendship can become love, love can become hate. Feelings can be one of the hardest things to deal with.”

“How did you realize it wasn’t love with Kali?”

“Well, I suspected when I started feeling bad around her a lot of the time. Then when we failed the bonding challenge, I was pretty sure. But I wasn’t positive until I felt real love. It’s so much stronger—better—than anything I ever felt with Kali.” Gabriel got up and headed into the kitchen to get a glass of water. Sam followed.

“Who are you in love with now?” Sam asked, leaning a hip against the counter, closer to Gabriel than necessary.

“You want a glass? We should probably start thinking about dinner,” Gabriel evaded.

Sam moved closer, resting a hand on either side of him, boxing his familiar in. Remembering the way he himself had shivered when Gabriel’s breath washed over his ear, he leaned in, bending down until his lips brushed the rim of Gabriel’s ear. “Who. Do. You. Love?” he asked again.

With a sound somewhere between a whimper and a groan, Gabriel turned in Sam’s arms and wrapped his own around his witch’s waist. Burying his face against Sam’s broad chest, he took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of his bonded. 

Eyes wide, Sam wrapped his arms around Gabriel’s upper back, resting his chin on top of his familiar’s head. “Seriously? Me?”

“Yeah, Samshine. I felt it that first time you chased after me. That’s why I went back to heal you, despite the risk of you catching me. We’ve barely known each other for more than a week, and I already can’t imagine life without you.”

“Good thing you don’t have to, then; bonded for life, right?”

“Yeah, for better or worse, til death do us part.” Gabriel looked up to give Sam a soft grin.

“You make it sound like we’re married,” Sam replied with a chuckle.

“Bonding is similar. But I wouldn’t mind being married either.”

“Really? What if I never wanted to have sex?”

“As long as there was cuddling, I could manage without sex. That’s what masturbation is for.”

“You said that’s not as much fun.” 

“It’s not,” Gabriel replied, “but you’re worth giving up sex for. Actually, I can’t imagine ever wanting anyone else anyway.”

“And if I did want sex?” Sam asked.

“I’d be the happiest familiar in the world.” Gabriel nuzzled against the firm chest he was pressed to, nosing his way up to Sam’s neck, lips brushing lightly over the warm flesh. Sam shivered and Gabriel felt his cock twitching to life against his abdomen. Sam was leaning down, and Gabriel brushed his lips lightly along his stubbled jaw, stopping just shy of Sam’s lips and breaking contact, looking up at Sam questioningly.

“Teach me?” Sam asked softly, warm breath washing over Gabriel’s lips.

With a groan, Gabriel reached a hand up to tangle in Sam’s hair, pulling him down into a slow, languid kiss. Sam’s lips moved with his, instinctively kissing back. 

Stood in the kitchen, they held each other gently, learning, exploring. Sam’s hands began to roam of their own accord and his lips parted easily when Gabriel ran his tongue along the seam. Then Gabriel pulled him lower, adjusting the angle to explore the moist cavern of Sam’s mouth and Sam moaned, hands sliding lower to grip Gabriel’s ass, eliciting a whimper in return. Never breaking the kiss, Sam lifted Gabriel, who wrapped his legs around Sam’s waist. 

After carrying Gabriel into the bedroom, Sam lowered him onto the mattress. Moaning as he covered the smaller man, Sam instinctively began rubbing against him. They aligned much better once they were laying down and Gabriel’s legs stayed wrapped around Sam, crossed just below his ass. The leverage helped him to rut up against Sam and it wasn’t long before they were both moaning constantly, dripping sweat and leaking precome into their boxers.

“Gabriel,” Sam panted when their lips finally parted, “I need...I don’t know. Something. Something more.”

“No worries, Sam. I got ya.” Gabriel turned them onto their sides, unfastened Sam’s pants and pushed everything down far enough to let his hot, hard cock spring free. He did the same for his own raging hard-on, then took both in hand. Swiping his palm over their heads, he used the leaking precome to ease the glide as he stroked them both together. Sam whimpered and moaned, closing his own large hand over Gabriel’s as they rutted into the combined fist in tandem. 

Sam had never felt anything so good. Everything about this was so new to him and he should have been embarrassed but he wasn’t. He didn’t have room to be, his entire concentration on the heat building in his core, the pleasure coursing through his body. Something built even higher, a pressure behind his balls and his hips lost their rhythm as he reached for whatever his body was approaching.

“That’s it, Sam. You’re almost there. Let go, babe. Come for me,” Gabriel rasped, his own release hovering so close he was straining to hold it off.

“Fuck! Gabriel!” Sam cried out, throwing his head back as his release spilled over their combined hands. Gabriel’s soon joined and they both shuddered together as Gabriel worked them through until it was almost too much.

“Damn, Sam. You’re a natural,” Gabriel panted, pulling off his shirt and using it to wipe up the mess.

“That was amazing. I can’t believe I’ve never done that before. It would have made puberty a hell of a lot easier,” Sam mumbled, pulling Gabriel closer.

“Believe me, kiddo, it gets even better. But I agree on the amazing. Damn. We probably should have made dinner first. I kinda don’t want to move.”

“Me either. How about a nap first?” Sam suggested.

“That sounds like a plan.” Gabriel snuggled closer and Sam tightened his arms around him. They drifted off on top of the blankets, the cool air drying the hot sweat from their bodies.

Sam had a feeling he was already in love, but he didn’t need to put a name on his emotions to simply enjoy them.

  


* * *

  


“Sammy! We’re home!” Dean called, dropping his sack of supplies onto a kitchen chair as he moved into the house. “Sam? Where you at?” The house was quiet, kitchen, living room, and workshop empty.

“Dean,” Castiel called quietly, pointing toward the open doorway of Sam’s room.

“Really, Sam? Bit early for bedtime. ‘D you get lazy while I was—” Dean stopped short, blinking, then rubbed his eyes, thinking he must be hallucinating. When the sight of his little brother wrapped around a strange man like a giant squid all over a sailing ship didn’t disappear, Dean clapped his hands over his eyes and turned around. “What the holy, ever-loving fuck, Sam!”

“Wha—Dean? You’re home,” Sam said, pushing himself up and rubbing at his eyes.

“Nope. Not home. My home is about to be across the road. In fact, Cas and I are gonna go start building it, right now. You can explain tomorrow, after I’ve had time to drink that sight out of my mind. C’mon, Cas. We’ve got a long night ahead of us.” Dean walked away, never once looking back at Sam. He grabbed his sack on the way out the door and Cas followed him out.

“Was that your brother?” Gabriel mumbled, groaning and stretching.

“Yeah, that was Dean.”

“I don’t think I made a very good first impression.” Gabriel pouted and Sam smiled at the expression.

“Don’t worry, he’ll get over it. Especially if we help build his house. I bet you and I could have a basic cabin built in an hour.”

“Probably quicker. Even with plumbing, it should be easy peasy like a breezy. But we should probably get ourselves cleaned up first,” Gabriel said with a wink as he sat up.

Sam laughed. “Yeah, we don’t want to traumatize him all over again. But I can’t wait to see his face the first time he gets a glimpse of your animal form. How much do you want to bet he accuses me of using magic to make a familiar for myself?”

Gabriel shook his head. “Not gonna bet on that one. I don’t even know him yet and that already sounds like something he’ll do. Come on, let’s get going. If we get his place set up quick enough, maybe he’ll forgive us for the eyefull he got.”

**Author's Note:**

> so late on this, and it's not beta'd yet because I wanted to get it posted in time for Halloween (not to mention October's Gabriel Monthly Challenge). Youmacon this weekend, so I'll be proofreading this on Tuesday. happy Halloween!
> 
> Comments, Questions, Corrections, and Suggestions always welcome and encouraged! :D and kudos are cool! Just one button click and they give me so much encouragement!


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